


Old Souls

by Seraina (seraina_doom)



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Amnesia, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Injury Recovery, Mute Link, Post-Breath of the Wild, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rebuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-19 14:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11899668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraina_doom/pseuds/Seraina
Summary: Link can't recall more than a handful of memories, but that's alright because his task is finished. Zelda struggles with the differences in her knight and finding her place in a world that doesn't need her anymore. The eldest generation of the Shiekah have their own plans and Hyrule isn't quite finished with the Princess and the Hero.





	1. Babel

When he woke, he experienced fragmented flashes, impressions, ghosts of touch or sounds just outside of his hearing range. When he met the Old Man, instead of opening his mouth, he spoke with his hands. It startled the large man, but he seemed to understand anyway. When he left the Great Plateau, his hand signs were not always recognized so he resorted to simpler gestures and facial expressions to interact with most other travelers. He found he knew a different sort of signing that all the Zora seemed to know. And a third one came to him while he made his way across the desert and traded with Greudo merchants, who gave him a better deal for knowing the best way to haggle was with one’s hands.

He struggled for countless days, regaining his strength, re-learning the land he used to protect and trying to scrape enough memories together to complete the massive task ahead of him. He wondered if it was all just a strange dream, a figment of his imagination, but that didn’t explain how the world didn’t seem right unless he had a sword in hand and a bow on his back.

With the Beast Gannon slain and the sky brightening to burn the rest of his Malice from the land, he couldn’t help but close his eyes and stop. He was done. Done. And he could finally let his aching body heal, since he’s sure he’s much more injured than he feels.

“I’ve been keeping watch over you all this time. I’ve witness your struggles to return to us as well as your trials in battle. I always thought—no, I always believed—that you would find a way to defeat Gannon. I never lost faith in you over these many years. Thank you Link, the hero of Hyrule.” She stood before him, still glowing in the sunlight. “May I ask, do you really remember me?”

He opened his mouth and shut it, still overcome with shock that she was alive and not a ghostly form like the other Champions. He raised his hands and gestured to her, hoping that after all his trials, he wouldn’t be punished for telling the truth. “ _I only remember about a dozen instances of us together. And they don’t feel like they are my memories, just… as if I was an observer in my own life_.”

“Oh.” A look of sadness and confusion spread over her features. “I-I’m sorry.” Her brightness dimmed and she was just a young girl in a dirty dress, standing in the middle of a field while he wobbled on shaky legs, the last of his battle high leaving him.

He was too tired to figure out why she was apologizing, but he’s sure she’ll tell him later. He brought out she Sheikah Slate and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and teleported them both to Myahm Agana Shrine. Once they re-materialized above Hateno Village, she jumped back away from him. “Wh-what was that? How did you do that?” 

He staggered off the shrine’s base and over the rocky hill, feeling her more than hearing her follow him. 

“Where are we?” She asked, surprise laced in her voice. 

" _Home_ ," he gestured with his right hand. When he reached his yard, he placed his hand on the sign out front, patting it affectionately.

“This… this is your house?” She asked and he nodded wearily, dragging himself towards the door.

Link was exhausted, something felt very wrong in his knee after he’d been knocked from Epona during the last battle and his ribs ached with every breath. Dozens of other older injuries made themselves known. He couldn’t tell if he was just sheer exhaustion or a concussion that made his vision swam every time he took a step. He shed his gear, gently laying the Master Sword on the table and letting the rest of his gear fall unceremoniously to the floor. He heard the Princess enter behind him but couldn’t bother to care that her eyes were on him.

He groaned as he peeled his tunic off and struggled out of the mail below. He was winded by the time his top half was free and he sat in his favorite chair at the table to inspect the bruising all along his left side.

“You’re hurt,” she said, coming close and kneeling beside him. The bruises nearly covered the scarred-over guardian claw marks from his first attempt at saving the world. “Let me help you.”

He looked down at her and grunted holding out one foot so she could help him out of his boot. The thought crossed his mind that he shouldn’t make the Princess do the work of a servant, but she smiled and obliged. She set the boots neatly under the table and placed her hand on his uninjured knee. “What next? Please tell me.”

Her touch startled him a moment. Nobody had touched him kindly since he woke from his slumber. She was too close in his personal space, too real and physical when he’d learned to live alone.

" _Bandages_ ," he signed, making the motion twice before he realized she didn't understand. He pointed towards the kitchen and she stared at him uncomprehending until he snapped his fingers and pointed again. “What do you want, food?”

The snorted laughter made his side hurt, so he shook his head and mimed wrapping his wrist. How did they ever communicate Before? Perhaps she never felt the need to ask him more than simple questions.

“Oh! Bandages, right.” She hurried over to the kitchen area and opened every drawer and cabinet until she returned with all of the medicinal supplies he’d collected in his travels. She wrapped his ribs and cleaned his various cuts. Once his top half was tended to, he carefully slid his trousers down to check the damage on his knee. It was ugly and swollen and she helped him wrap it with some sturdy twigs from outside so he could limp his way up to the loft and his bed.

“Hang on, let me get you some water. You’re still covered in blood.” She fetched a basin of water and he closed his eyes as she washed the blood and grime off of him. If she noticed his flinch at the contact, she didn’t mention it. “There. Go rest, I will… I will manage by myself.”

He gave her a weak smile and hobbled up the stairs and collapsed onto the bed, unconscious as his head hit the pillow.

The sun shone through his window, warming his face when he woke next. He was still sore and his knee was still a mess, but he felt less weary. Carefully, he reached over to the chest by the bed and pulled out some clean clothes and pulled them on. The trip down the stairs was almost more perilous than he bargained for and he briefly wondered if it’d be easier to paraglide from the loft. No. Landing from a paraglider jump would hurt more. 

His armor and gear had been placed neatly on the table and his pack sat on one of the chairs, open. A note left on the Master Sword explained that the Princess borrowed some of his clothes and the Sheikah Slate and was visiting Impa for a few days. She would come back to check on him once he was feeling better.

Link set about cleaning his weapons and putting away his weapons, packing his various pieces of armor in the storage area underneath the stairs and sorted through the provisions left in his pack. The walk to the outhouse was trying, but he managed it without further injury. He ate a cold mushroom and meat skewer and hobbled back to bed with a pack full of food and a water skin and prepared to sleep until the Princess returned or the ache in his side subsided.


	2. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda wonders about Link's muteness and visits Impa, then Purah.

“He wouldn’t even speak to me, Impa. Does he hate me that much?” Zelda sighed, slumping back on the cushions in her oldest friend’s tea room.

“G-g-grandmother?” Impa’s granddaughter, Paya, brought in a fresh pot of tea and knelt down, pouring three mugs. “A-a-are you t-t-talking about Mmaster Link?”

“Yes, Paya dear.” Impa stated, taking her tea. “Has he mentioned to you why he didn't speak?”

“W-whenever he stopped by, he would always converse with me in Hylian Sign. When I asked him if he’d always been mute, he said he couldn’t remember.” Paya remarked, fidgeting with her tea cup.

“He spoke fine when he was my knight protector. He was quiet but… he did speak when he felt it was important,” Zelda puzzled, unsure of what was going on with Link.

“I seem to remember he was downright laconic when he was appointed your knight protector.” The Sheikah matron shook her head. Impa nodded her head forward, the charms of her hat jingling. “Let him be. He’s been through more than any of us can ever know. We asked so much of him when he didn’t even know who he was.”

“You’re right, he deserves a break after all he’s done.” Zelda started, guilt bubbling up in the pit of her stomach. “For now, Impa, can you send messengers out to spread the news that Calamity Gannon has been destroyed? I will need to go to Zora’s Domain soon, since King Dorephan knew me from before and could help prove my identity. I will ask Link if he would like to accompany me, but I can go alone if need be.”

Impa leaned forward and patted Zelda’s arm comfortingly. “Of course, dear. We’ll get the word out. Why don’t you and Link just relax and let the messengers do their job. Once we receive word back from King Dorephan and the other leaders, we will make more plans.”

The rest of their afternoon was spent talking and laughing about the old times. When Impa excused herself to rest her old bones, Zelda took a stroll through the village, trying to clear the dark thoughts from her head. Link did not remember her. He either could not or would not speak to anyone, and she could not interpret his gesturing. He was a stranger wearing his own face, and the thought of him lost to her made her heart break. If only she had taken more pictures, pictures of them together, how happy they’d been traveling the country on her surveys, sharing a meal, getting into trouble.

She meant to give him space, but all she wanted now was to see him. She informed Impa’s guards that she was leaving and used the slate to teleport back to Hateno. She checked the little house first, but found it curiously empty, only the unmade bed to show that Link had been there at all. She dropped her bag of extra clothes on the table and left the cozy home.

“He must have gone out.” She murmured to herself and walked further up the hill to Purah’s Lab.

“Zelda!” The age-reversed scientist cried and wrapped herself around the Princess’s legs. “We had no idea you were even alive in there, let alone trapped in stasis. Very curious! But we just knew our Linky would rescue you!” 

Zelda smiled, taking a seat on one of the stools around Purah’s workbench. “Yes, he has. He’s resting now though, he was injured during the battle.”

“Oh no!” Purah gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

“I think his knee took the worst of it, but I’m sure he will be fine. I took the slate to visit Impa while he slept, but when I returned he was gone. I can only assume he went down to the village.” She hoped. She shook her doubts aside for now. How could he avoid her when she had the slate? Instead, she focused on the introduction of Purah's "new" assistant, Symin.

“I’m sure he just stepped out for a moment.” Symin placed a hand on Purah’s shoulder. “How are you doing, Princess? I’m sure it hasn’t been very easy to adjust to life after your ordeal.”

“I’m… fine. More worried about Link, I suppose. He’s… silent. Has he been that way since he woke?” She hoped that wasn’t the case, that he was just working through some things, but she feared she’d never hear his voice again.

“Princess,” Purah sighed, “Before we put him in the Shrine of Resurrection, we checked him for injuries. He had a severe head injury and very deep claw marks in his side that caused internal damage. He stopped breathing. Any one of these things, or maybe just the trauma of dying and being brought back without memory caused his muteness. He doesn’t seem as distressed about it.”

“But how did he learn Hylian Sign?” Zelda put the first and most obvious question forth.

“Perhaps someone in his family was deaf? Did he have any siblings?” Symin asked logically.

“I… I don’t know. It never came up. I knew his father, but not any other of his family members.” She felt silly, not knowing such an important detail in Link’s life. And he couldn’t remember why he acted the way he did. So much of the Hero’s history was lost because he’d been sparse with personal details. Or maybe she just hadn't cared enough to ask.

“Time and patience, Princess. He hasn’t had any time to figure himself out yet.” Purah smiled. “Now hand over that slate so I can see all of Linky’s pictures and the data he’s collected along the way!”

They happily spent hours going over the map data and all the pictures Link took along his journey. Once the sun started to go down, Zelda bid her friends farewell and walked back down to Link’s house, finding him sitting outside beside the cook pot, tending something that smelled wonderful. “Hi.”

He greeted her with a small smile and a wave before returning to the pot, which prompted her to kneel beside him. He sat with his injured leg outstretched and breathed carefully around broken ribs, but he didn’t seem as weary as when they arrived yesterday.

“Feeling better?” She asked, peering into the pot to see the bubbling meat curry.

He snapped his fingers to get her attention and moved his hands. From his expression, he seemed to be waiting for her answer. Maybe he’d asked her a question? 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know Hylian Sign.” She felt her face flush in embarrassment. “You… you spoke. Before.”

His expression turned thoughtful and he shook his head. He then pointed at the slate at her hip. 

“You want the slate?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. At least he was more expressive now, when he was her knight, his face had been like a stone mask unless they were alone and several miles away from the castle.

She unclipped the slate from her belt and passed it over. 

He brought up a screen she’d never seen before and poked at the screen for some time. When he passed the slate back, there was a message written there in neat letters. “ **Still sore. Leg’s going to take a while to heal. Are you staying here tonight?** ”

She read the note and wondered if Purah and Robbie knew of this, but she reigned in her scientific curiosity. “Is that okay? I missed you.” She passed the slate back to him so he could answer.

He seemed surprised by her declaration and nodded. His index finger poked out a new message from the letters on the glowing screen. “ **Yes. I hope you like curry.** ”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I do. Daruk made the best vegetable curry. You and Revali once had an eating contest to see who could eat the most.” She laughed at the memory. “You both ate yourselves sick and Mipha refused to heal you two for being foolish.”

He smiled as well and lifted the single bowl he’d brought out and gestured to the house, then back to the bowl.

“Oh! Of course, I’ll go get another bowl. Is it almost done?” She stood and brushed off her trousers, thankful Impa had saved some of her old clothes all these years.

He nodded and made a shooing motion and she took the hint that she should go fetch her bowl now. She found an extra bowl and fork in the little kitchen cabinet and noticed that the storage area underneath the stairs now held a cot. He must have expected her to return. That thought brought her out of the house grinning, he expected her to stay in his house with him. It was more than she expected.

When she emerged onto the yard, he was spooning curry into his dish and set it on the grass. He held his hand out for hers and filled it up as well. Heaping portions aside, he’d made enough for the both of them. He passed her both bowls and grunted as he rolled to the side and awkwardly got to his feet. He placed a hand to his injured side and limped ahead of her into the house.

They sat at the table and she watched him eat as if the dish was going to be pulled away from him at any moment. Perhaps it was his time floundering in the wild that made him like that, unsure another meal would come when he needed it. She ate much slower, savoring the flavor and heat. 

“Will you teach me Hylian Sign?”

He looked at her like she grew a second head and nodded, like it was obvious he would teach her. That thought reassured her; that something in him wanted her to understand him better.

“Impa wants you to visit as soon as you feel up to it. Purah also said to ‘snap to it and visit me’.” She said between mouthfuls of Link’s delicious curry. She wondered how he had the time to improve his cooking over the past year when he’d been doing so much else.

He nodded and she felt his full attention settle on her now that his bowl was empty. She full well knew that his full attention on any one task could move mountains, defeat evil and melt the coldest of hearts in all of Hyrule.

“I was thinking of heading out to Zora’s Domain soon. Because King Dorephan can help prove my identity while I start work to restore the castle.” 

He was still watching her, so she slid the last remnants of her curry over to him to finish. He took the bowl, but his gaze didn’t waver.

“Would you like to come with me?”

He thought for a long moment and then nodded, but he also patted his braced knee.

“Oh, yes, when you feel up to traveling.”

With dinner done, she asked him to show her some basic signs. The lessons weren’t what she expected. He wrote a word or phrase on a piece of paper and he made the sign, then made her make the sign until she could reproduce it herself. She learned ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘good morning’, ‘good night’, ‘hungry’, ‘what are you cooking?’, and ‘slate’. He ran through the alphabet too so that it would be a little easier getting his point across.

Once they finished the lesson, Link limped to the cot under the stairs and lay down, kicking off his boots.

She took the hint and his sudden snoring to mean she should take the bed in the loft. She changed into a long sleep shirt and climbed into the bed that smelled like Link.


	3. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Zelda spend the day together in Hateno.

Link woke early and cleaned himself up a bit, changing into a clean set of clothes. He gathered some ingredients and headed out to the cook pot outside. He used to speak Before. How? When he first woke he hadn’t thought of it, but now he wondered if he should have. Had he just willingly made himself silent because it felt better? No, if it was just a whim, how would he have known three distinct hand languages? He must have known them Before as well. And when Robbie examined him, why hadn’t the old Sheikah mentioned that he spoke before but was mute now?

It didn’t matter, did it?

He turned his thoughts away from any sense of inadequacy. He defeated Calamity Gannon with a handful of memories from his past and blind luck. He didn’t need to prove himself any more. He was happy. With that, he cracked an egg into his cookpot and started making omelets. Maybe he should get a cow or start a garden, grow some things from seeds he’d collected along his journey.

“Link?” 

He whistled to let the Princess know he was outside and flipped the first omelet onto a plate. 

“That smells wonderful!” She smiled and he felt his heart lift at the praise. He liked cooking for others, it was almost as fun as paragliding.

He offered her the first plate and started on the second one. She sat down beside him in the grass and started eating. “ _What do you want to do today?_ ”

He shrugged and pointed down to the village below them. He should probably introduce Zelda to Hateno if she’s going to stay with him until he’s up for riding out to Zora’s Domain.

“Go down in the village? Sure.” She finished her breakfast and took his plate from him after he was finished eating.

He put out the fire and got up, heading back inside to grab his money purse and magically enhanced travel pack. They needed some supplies and he figured the Princess would want some new clothes. Impa had only saved a few pieces for her.

When he turned, he saw that the Princess had changed into her travel clothes and tied her hair into a single long braid. “I’m ready.”

Together, they made their way down to the town and she pointed out various object and he showed her the signs for them. She seemed determine to learn, probably to make up for the fact that she couldn’t understand him now. He still wasn’t sure how he was able to speak Before, but that thought didn’t seem important enough in the grand scheme of things.

He loved this town, the smells from the dye shop, the children happily playing in the street, the vendors and other friendly faces he’s gotten to know since he bought the old house on the hill. The princess seemed happy too, as he guided her around the main street. He saw a familiar mop of hair run past and he let out a sharp whistle, not unlike one he uses for his horses.

Nebb skids to a halt and beams. “Yay! Mr. Link, you’re back! Did you find anything new? Huh?”

He smiled and nodded, pulling the wicked Demon Carver off his back and holding it out for the boy to examine but not grab. Zelda gasped beside him, questions on her lips. 

“Whoa! Is that a Demon Carver? That’s amazing! Oh wow… you really are the best Mr. Link! When I’m old enough, will you teach me how to fight?” Nebb asked, hugging him around the waist.

He patted the boy on the head, nodding even though the kid isn’t looking at him at all.

Nebb left quickly to go tell his friends and Link watched fondly until the boys were out of sight. 

“You have quite a fan club,” she watched the children as well. “You had quite a few children following you around Castle Town as well. But I think that’s because you always had a pouch full of honey candies.”

He snorted and pulled out a paper wrapped candy and offered it to her. 

She accepted the candy with a grin and they spent most of the day visiting the shops and he taught her more signs. She was eager, but easily frustrated and he found himself having to reach out and correct her fingers often.

“How do you even bend your fingers like that?” She frowned and tried the sign for duck again. “Is this also the sign for the act of ducking or just the animal?”

He shook his head and exaggerated a ducking motion while making that corresponding sign, pushing his palms downward. 

“Ohh. Okay. So, it doesn’t correlate exactly.” She practiced the new signs she’d learned.

He leaned against a fence, trying to ease the weight off of his injured knee. He closed his eyes and listened to her mumble to herself. Something wet fell against his cheek and he looked up into the thick dark clouds of an approaching thunderstorm. 

“Do we have to go back?” She asked, suddenly at his shoulder. She didn’t touch him, but she hovered close.

“ _Should go back,_ ” He signed slowly. “ _Thunder._ ” He signed just as the sky rumbled. He’d been struck by lightning during his adventures, it hadn’t been fun. Only Mipha’s Grace had kept him alive long enough to drop his metal gear and scramble to safety.

She nodded. “Should we walk back or take the slate?”

“ _Slate._ ” He stepped closer and she put her arms around him and teleported them up the hill. Her touch wasn’t as strange when he expected it, her warmth pressed against his side as the shrine system’s magic teleported them back up the hill near his house. Normally, he’d have walked, but he felt it was okay to be lazy with his healing body.

Even though they took a shortcut, they were still soaked by the time they stumbled inside, though the Princess was laughing as she rung out her hair. “I didn’t realize I missed the rain as much as I did.”

He grunted, shedding his boots and limping towards the hearth along the side wall. A bit of fumbling and he managed to get a fire going before he shed his blue Champion’s tunic. Even though he didn’t feel any nostalgia for the shirt, he appreciated that it was finely made, sturdy armor and allowed him to move easier than most of the things he collected on his travels.

The Princess stood close beside him, in her long undershirt that just kissed the tops of her thighs. “Do you need help?”

Link startled back a little, putting too much weight on his injured knee and stumbled against the kitchen counter. “ _Where are your clothes?_ ”

“They’re wet and I’m wet and I wanted to dry off a little first.” She shrugged and moved away from him closer to the fire.

Was she that comfortable around the old him that she didn’t mind being almost nude? These were rather extenuating circumstances. Plus, he’d been nothing but a gentleman so far, so perhaps she was comfortable. He sat down at the table and kicked off his boots so he could check his aching knee again. 

“I know… I know you have Mipha’s healing power, why don’t you use it on your knee?” 

He looked up to see the Princess watching him again, her hair in damp waves falling down her back. “ _It only works when I’m nearly dead._ ” 

“Oh. Not an option then.” She nodded and looked over the weapons he’d hung on the wall, the weapons of the former champions and other items he’d found or had made over his travels. 

He pulled his travel pack closer and started pulling out all of the clothes that he’d collected over his journey.   
“Where did you get all of this?” Zelda asked once he’d sorted all of the clothing and armor.

“ _I found some of them, bought others._ ” He pulled on his hylian set of clothes, glad that everything stayed dry inside the pack.

She inspected the clothes laid out on the table and smiled, “You have more sets of armor than I ever had ball gowns.” She picked up his well-worn trousers, the ones he found in the Shrine of Resurrection and held them up. “I remember these.” She pointed out a tear that had been hastily repaired. “You tried to teach me how to use a bow and I was… eager… and um… grazed you. I took your trousers and mended them myself, even though I didn’t know how.” She stepped into them and laughed as they ended at the middle of her calves. She looked up at him and her smile was replaced with one of confusion. “Can you stand up straight?”

Curious as to what was bothering her, he straightened up, standing at attention in front of her.

“You’re taller than me!” She gasped. “That’s so strange! You must have grown while you were asleep… you’re half a hand taller when you’d been half a hand shorter before.” 

He puzzled over her words. “ _Does that bother you?_ ”

She looked up at him and shook her head. “No, not bother. Just… it’s just a reminder that things are different now.” Her previous good mood had vanished and she retreated to the back corner of the house to change.

“I think you have more sets of armor than I had ball gowns,” she teased and helped him pack them all away in the storage chests in the trapdoor in the floor.

He snorted, “ _I have used every single one of them._ ”

“What purpose did you have with a set of Barbarian armor?” She picked up an apple from the bowl of fruit on the table.

“ _Increased attack power._ ” He rolled his eyes and plucked a voltafruit from the bowl.

“Whatever that means. How did you even have time to collect all this? Don’t pretend that you don’t have several chests of jewels and rupees down there.” She sat down and turned the apple around in her hands. “You… travelled for some time before… before heading to the castle.”

He studied her for a long moment, trying to gauge what she was really asking. “ _I woke up with nothing. I had to figure it all out with little guidance and several impossible tasks._ ” He huffed, emphasizing his point with sharper hand gestures. “ _I needed money for arrows and food and equipment. I needed to retrain my body so that I could reclaim the Master Sword. And I needed to remember all I could so that I could defeat Gannon._ ” He hated having to remind her of how ill-equipped she and the Shiekah had left him, but he didn’t want her insinuating that he’d been lazy in fulfilling the tasks he’d been given.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything. I just… wondered. Time was… strange for me while Gannon and I were trapped in the castle.” She refused to meet his gaze and filled the silence with hasty bites of her apple.

He reached across the table and put his hand on her arm to get her attention. “ _I’m sorry you had to wait so long._ ”

She smiled warmly, wrapping her hand around his own. He worked hard to remain still at the touch.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that.” 

He nodded once and removed his hand to put a kettle on. He tried to ignore the feel of her eyes on his back. She was always watching him now, though maybe she just doesn’t want to miss it when he started signing. Her stare made his back itch and he wondered who she sees when she looks at him like that. He felt so disassociated with the Link of Before that sometimes he swore that he’d been a different person entirely. But the few others that straddled the century between Then and Now all tell him that he and the Knight were one and the same.

But he felt like those few recovered memories are just glimpses of someone else and it made the look the Princess gave him feel as if he’d interrupted a private moment between her and the Link of Before.


End file.
